Recipe for Homemade Air Dry Salt Dough

By Chris Dunmire

Making your own homemade salt dough is easy and fun! Get out your rolling pin, cookie cutters, and creative imagination to create one-of-a-kind salt dough ornaments and novelty gifts for Christmas or any occasion. Alternatively, you can learn how to make cinnamon dough here, perfect for scented projects and ornaments.

Know there are many variations on the theme to making your own salt dough for craft projects. Some liken it to making a pie crust, so find a recipe you like that works well for your needs, or use it to adapt your own recipe. To get you started, here's a basic salt dough recipe I like.

Salt Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 cup cold water

Directions: In a large bowl, mix table salt and flour together. Gradually add 1/2 cup of water and mix to desired consistency. Knead the dough on a flat surface, adding a few more drops of water as needed (but not making it too moist).

Once the dough is made, you can divide it up into small portions to roll into 1/8" thick pieces with a rolling pin. Use cookie cutters to cut out a variety of shapes, and place the shapes on wax paper or other surface to dry. If you want to make hanging ornaments, pierce the dough through with a toothpick while it's wet.

Allow the shapes to dry for a day or two, turning them over periodically to speed up the drying process. You may need to re-pierce the hole several times during the drying process. After the shapes dry, you can use a fine grit sandpaper to gently smooth any rough edges.

Baking Alternative

Instead of allowing the dough shapes to air dry, you can bake them in the oven at 200 degrees F until hard. Baking times varies depending on oven and dough thickness. Make sure the dough is completely baked. You can cover the dough with aluminum foil if it starts to darken before completely baked through.

Salt Dough Project Suggestions and Tips:

You can store prepared salt dough in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a day or two before using.

Add color to the dough by mixing food coloring or paint into the water before adding it to the flour/salt mix. Alternatively, you can paint the finished baked dough with acrylic paint.

Painted objects should be sealed on all sides with polyurethane spray or clear varnish to make them lasting gifts or keepsakes. •